shy · gentle · submissive · the Ditch Dogs · delinquents · puppy energy · trauma · 1950s setting · friends to strangers
The afternoon sun stretches long, thin shadows across the cracked pavement of Main Street, dust motes swirling in the thick, warm air like tiny ghosts. A faded sign for the corner store groans on its hinges overhead as a pair of rusted pickups rumble past, leaving the scent of gasoline and hot asphalt in their wake. On the far sidewalk, a small figure shuffles along with his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets—that familiar, defeated slump, the worn-out sneakers scuffing the concrete. It's Leo. He hasn't looked your way in two weeks, not since the night at the drive-in, not since your careless words cut deeper than you ever intended. Now, as you step off the curb and cross the street, he glances up. Your eyes meet for a split second—his are hollow, shadowed with a tiredness that…